Bloodorange
I'm a GoodReads user testing new waters after the serious website changes. I mostly read fiction, usually Anglophone classics/ modern classics; I like nonfiction (mostly social and cultural history), good fantasy and graphic novels. For guilty pleasure, I read advice and how-to books.
I made at least two reading resolutions recently; 1. read less, live more; 2. read books which give me more pleasure. I have poor filters, and books I find stylistically pleasing tend to be depressing, so I need to do something about that; if you think you know a book that is very well written, but won't make me weep, please drop me a line.
Mansfield Park
I really like Austen most of the time (duh), but reading Mansfield Park was like being repeatedly hit on the head with a blunt instrument used by the author to drive her point home. Yes indeed, the world was a dark, dark place these two hundred years ago - no respect for one's parents, no sense of filial duty or sisterly affection, and, above all, outrageous conduct among the young (amateur theare! affairs! elopement!). What will it amount to?!The satire is very strong and impossible to defend oneself against (example: killer one-liners delivered at the end of chapters). Characters (with few and questionable exceptions) are stupid and self-centered to the point of cruelty. Where Elizabeth Bennet does mental facepalms thinking of her family's behaviour, Fanny Price would bang her head senseless against the nearest wall, were she not so *grateful* all the time (and she is to gratitude and sense of duty what Pollyanna is to positive thinking).
Two words: not fun, unless as a social document.
